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Trump Unveils ‘Pro-American’ Trade Policy Aimed at Independence from China

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


Former President Donald Trump has unveiled his trade policy plans to enact a “sweeping pro-American overhaul of our tax and trade policy” aimed at strengthening American production and reducing economic dependence on China.

In a video released on social media this week, Trump tore into President Joe Biden by arguing that despite his claims to be pro-American manufacturing, he is “pushing the same pro-China globalist agenda that ripped the industrial heart out of our country.”

Trump shared his vision “to move from the Biden system that punishes domestic producers and rewards outsourcers to a system that rewards domestic production and taxes foreign companies and those who export American jobs.”

“To achieve this goal, we will phase in a system of universal base-line tariffs on most foreign products. On top of this, higher tariffs will increase incrementally depending on how much individual foreign countries devalue their currency,” Trump said.

“As tariffs on foreign producers go up, taxes on American producers will go down and go down very substantially, and that means a lot of jobs coming in. Not only will this system end our gaping trade deficits – and they are massive right now – and bring back millions of American jobs, it will also bring trillions and trillions of dollars pouring into the United States Treasury from foreign countries and allow us to invest that money in American workers, American families, and American communities. This plan will be the linchpin of a new strategic manufacturing initiative that builds on my historical success in ending NAFTA [North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement],” Trump declared.

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He explained: “We will revoke China’s most-favored-nation trade status and adopt a four year plan to phase out all Chinese imports of essential goods, everything from electronics to steel to pharmaceuticals. This will include strong protections to ensure China cannot circumvent restrictions by passing goods through conduit countries – countries that don’t make a product, but all of the sudden they’re selling a lot of product. It comes right through China, right out China, and right into our country. We will also adopt new rules to stop U.S. companies from pouring investments into China and to stop China from buying up America…  And we will eliminate federal contracts to any company that outsources to China.”

Trump rounded out the clip by arguing that Biden “will never get the job done” and that “he is weak on China because the corrupt Biden family has received millions and millions of dollars from entities tied to the Chinese Communist Party.”

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Donald Trump has yet to announce a running mate for his 2024 nomination bid, but a report this week suggested that a few names could be high on his list if he wins the nomination.

Politico previously reported that according to an unnamed Trump adviser, the former president is likely to choose a running mate “from three general lanes of candidates: women, conservatives of color, or a trusted adviser.”

According to a new report from the Washington Examiner, these four Republican women could be high on Trump’s shortlist: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and former Arizona journalist Kari Lake.

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The Washington Examiner reported:

Sanders, the youngest governor in the United States and the longest-tenured press secretary in the Trump White House, flew up political draft boards after she delivered what Trump supporters agree was an “exceptionally strong” response to Biden’s State of the Union on Feb. 7.

Noem was elected as South Dakota’s first female governor in 2018 after spending more than a decade in the House of Representatives and has made a name for herself as a leading Republican lawmaker in the so-called “culture wars.”

Stefanik, the current chairwoman of the House GOP conference, was elected as a centrist Republican in 2015 but, after serving on the president’s defense team during his first impeachment, has shifted increasingly to the right. She frequently touts her strong ties to Trump and even endorsed his 2024 run days before he announced his candidacy.

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Lake is perhaps the strangest potential pick and one many current and former Trump advisers hope he avoids. The former Phoenix-area news anchor lost her Trump-endorsed 2022 gubernatorial bid against Democrat Katie Hobbs, but she only further endeared herself to the former president by repeatedly claiming that widespread fraud occurred in the 2020 election.

One name not mentioned in the Washinton Examiner report is Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. Her name has been floated in the media recently.

NBC’s Jonathan Allen reported that several people have spoken to Greene and have been told “about her weighty ambitions,” Mediaite noted. “The second-term congresswoman has managed to align herself with the top Republican in the House, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), acting as one of the Republican’s most vocal allies in his fight to become House speaker.”

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